Adventures of the Pines: House of Wax
by TenshiWarrior
Summary: After finding the Wax Museum that Stan had apparently forgotten, Mabel goes out of her way to make a wax figure herself, only to find it's head gone the day they reopen the museum.
1. Chapter 1: The Hidden Museum

On this particular morning at the Mystery Shack, the triplets and their cousin Gary sat around the television watching one of their favorite shows; A show called Duck-Tective. All of them were sharing popcorn as they watched the show. " _I'm afraid your services won't be required here, sir._ " The man called Constable said on the TV, " _My men have examined the evidence, and this is obviously an accident_."

The man called Constable, gestured over to a body stuffed in a phonebooth. He was talking to a duck that wore a hat similar to what Sherlock Holmes would wear. He quaked as he spoke, " _An accident, constable? Or is it… Murder?_ " He said as he turned to the camera dramatically.

" _ **WHAT?!**_ " Constable exclaimed.

" _Duck-tective will return after these messages._ " The TV announcer said.

"That duck is a genius!" Mabel said amazed.

"I know right?" Gary said, "I love this duck!"

"It was so obvious, I mean you don't normally find people stuffed in phone booths." Mira said before munching on a handful of popcorn.

"Eh, it's easier to find clues if your that close to the ground." Dipper said, drinking his soda.

Mabel and Gary looked at Dipper a bit taken back by it. "Are you saying you can out-wit Duck-tective?" Mabel asked.

"One of the most greatest detectives of all time mind you?" Gary said.

"Mabel, Gary, I have a keen power of observation." Dipper said with confidence.

"It's true, he actually does." Mira said.

Dipper said to Mabel, "For example Mabel, just by smelling your breath I can tell that you've been eating…" Dipper took a moment to sniff, but was a bit confused by the scent, "An entire tube of toothpaste?"

"You ate a tube of toothpaste?" Mira asked.

Mabel twiddled her thumbs seeing as how she had her mouth covered with toothpaste. "It was so sparkly…" She said.

"That explains why a tube went missing this morning." Gary said.

Soos and Andrew soon entered the living room. "Hey guys!" Andrew said, "Guess what Soos and I just found in the Shack!"

" **BURIED TREASURE!** " The triplets said at the same time before turning to one another, " **JINX!** "

"A secret tunnel to the arcade!?" Gary guessed excitedly.

"Just follow us and we'll show you guys what we found." Andrew said. The four children followed behind Soos. They lead them down the hall of the Mystery Shack. Soos had explained to the kids what had happened, "So Andrew and I were just cleaning up when we found this secret door, hidden behind the wallpaper."

"Let me tell you, it's way creepy in there." Andrew said, before opening the door. Dipper took out a flashlight and shined it into the room. It was revealed to be a room filled with wax people. The children were in awe by this.

"Wow, this place is amazing!" Gary said.

"What is this place?" Mira asked, "They're all made of wax."

"From the looks of it, it's some sort of a wax museum." Dipper said.

Mabel went over to one of the wax figures; one being of Sherlock, and went to poke it, "Whoa, they're so life like."

"Except that one." Dipper said pointing towards a wax figure; but in reality, it was-

"Hello!"

Everyone couldn't help but scream.

"Hey, it's just me, your Grunkle Stan!" He said before chuckling.

Everyone screamed even louder, and started to run off. They only ceased they're screams when they heard a familiar voice, " **OH STOP SCREAMING!** **HE'S FAMILY FOR GOODNESS SAKE!** "

"Mom!" Andrew and Gary exclaimed. Though they stopped in there tracks causing the triplets and Soos to fall over like dominos onto the floor.

"What in the world are you all doing?" Skyla said before sighing, "I swear, you kids nowadays jump over nothing."

"So-sorry cousin Sky." Mira said getting up from the floor, "We didn't see him standing there, he just that he startled us."

" _ **STARTLED, SHE SAYS!?**_ " Dipper, Mabel, Gary, and Andrew thought in unison as they stood up.

Dipper shook off by what had just happened, and asked Stan, "Grunkle Stan what exactly is this place?"

"Glad you asked that!" Stan said before saying with a big smile, "Behold the Gravity Falls Wax Museum! This is one of the Mystery Shack's most popular attractions!"

"That is until you forgot about it." Skyla said.

"Hey, don't talk like that you forgot about it too." Stan said to her.

"I didn't forget about it!" Skyla said to her father, turning red a bit.

Stan cleared his throat before, introducing the the wax figures, "Anyway, aside from that, I got all of them! Gengis Khan, Sherlock Holmes-" Stan stopped at a wax figure that was of Larry King. He scratched his chin, "I don't know some kind of goblin man?"

Mira shivered slightly, "Is anyone else getting the creepy vibes from this place?"

"Yeah, wax figures will do that to you." Skyla said, "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

"And here's my personal favorite." Stan said going over to the last wax figure, "Wax Abraham Lincoln, right ove- **AGH, OH NO!** " Stan saw that the wax Abraham Lincoln figure was all melted since the blind was open.

" **NO, OH WHAT, COME ON, WHO LEFT THE BLINDS OPEN!?** " Stan exclaimed, before turning to one wax figure in particular, "Wax John Wilkes Booth, I'm looking in your direction!"

Skyla kneeled down and checked what was left of the wax figure. "Yup it is way past the point of no return. How does one even fix a wax person?"

Mira looked over in Mabel's direction who had a big smile on her face when she had hatched an idea. Mira then spoke up, "You know, Mabel is an artistic person. Maybe she can fix the wax figure for you."

Both Stan and Skyla gave a quizzical look. "Really?" Skyla asked, "You can do that?"

"Yup!" Mabel said, "I can just make a new wax figure from all of this old wax!"

"You really think you can make one of these puppies?" Stan asked Mabel.

Mabel nodded her head, "Like Mira said, I'm very artistic! Why do you think I always have this glue gun stuck to my arm?" Mabel showed the glue gun to them that was indeed stuck to her arm; she tried to shake it off with effort. Stan looked over at Skyla, and all she did was shrug to him; he turned back to his niece.

"I like your gumption kid!" He said with a smile.

"I don't know what that word means but thank you!" Mabel said. About a few hours of that morning had passed since they had found the museum full of wax people. Dipper and Mira had just gotten out of the kitchen after they had gotten some Pit Cola to drink.

"Dipper! Mira!" Mabel said getting both of their attention, causing the both of them to choke on their sodas, though they were quick to recover. "I need your opinion, what do you think of this wax figure I have in mind?" Mabel asked the two of them before showing them a picture of what her wax figure idea; They're jaws dropped at this.

"She's part fairy princess and part horse fairy princess!" Mabel said, showing them exactly what she described.

"That's… Great!" Mira said awkwardly.

Dipper on the other hand suggested, "Maybe you should crave something from real life."

Mabel flipped the page and drew another picture with a quick pace. When she was done, she showed them what she drew. "Like waffles! With big arms!" Mabel said to them.

"I… Don't think that's what he meant." Mira said, speechless about the picture, "How about you try to make a person from real life?"

"Yeah, like someone in your family." Dipper added.

Just as they said this, Stan had entered the room, wearing his suit top, and boxers. "Kids? Have you seen my pants?" He said as he posed dramatically on a briefcase. Mabel's eyes brightened at this and turned big.

"Oh muse, you work in mysterious ways…" Mabel said, turning from her siblings and uncle.

"Exactly why is your sister talking to the ceiling?" Stan asked Dipper and Mira.

Throughout most of the day, Mabel had worked on making the wax figure, with the help of Dipper, Mira and Soos of course. With the amount of wax she had available, she was surprised she managed to get the details of the wax figure in. Eventually they had finished the wax figure up after hours and hours of labor.

They all stepped back to look at what they had helped Mabel make.

"This is, really good! I'm surprised how it turned out!" Mira couldn't help but admit.

"You did a really great job Mabel." Dipper said.

Mabel scratched her chin, "Hmm, it's still missing something… It needs more glitter!"

"Agreed."" Soos said. He took a bucket full of glitter that was nearby and dumped it all over the statue making it sparkle like the stars in the sky. "Perfect!" Mabel said with her thumb up.

Stan had entered the room, fully dressed, only his shoes were missing. "I've found my pants, but now I can't find- **AAAAHHHH!** "

Stan suddenly backed up and fell over at the sight of the new wax figure.

"Ah, Grunkle Stan, perfect timing!" Mabel said, "What do you think of the new wax figure I made?" Stan took only but a single look at it, before saying, "I think… **THE WAX MUSEUM IS BACK IN BUSINESS!** "


	2. Chapter 2: Wax Stan

Everyone in the town of Gravity Falls gathered around at the Mystery Shack for the unveiling of the reopening at the Wax Museum. Soos was leading the oncoming cars into the parking lot, Andrew was helping guests finding there seats, Skyla and Stan was setting up the wax figures on stage, and Dipper, Wendy, Gary and Mira were working at the ticket stand.

"Look at how many people there are!" Mira said looking at the crowd.

"I bet you the whole town is here to see this." Gary said.

Dipper turned to Wendy, "Can you believe how many people showed up?"

"I know right?" Wendy said, "Your uncle probably bribed them to come here."

"He bribed us." Mira said. Dipper, Mira and Gary pulled out dollar bills from their pockets, and Wendy did as well. The four of them couldn't help but laugh.

The show had soon started, and after Skyla had said a quick "Thank you for coming" she said to the crowd of people, "And now introducing the proud of the owner of the Mystery Shack, my father… Stanford Pines!" A few people clapped as Stan gotten up to the microphone stand.

Stan cleared his throat before saying, "Hi, you all know me folks! Town darling, "Mr. Mystery". Please ladies, control yourselves."

Three women just stared at Stan with blank expressions; flies buzzed around one of the women. Skyla couldn't help but slap herself in the face. "As you know, I bring the people of this fair town novelties and befuddlements, the likes of which the world has never known. But enough about me."

Stan walked over to one of the figures that was covered.

"Behold… **ME!** " Stan said, removing the cover. As soon as the cover was pulled back, there was a wax version of himself, that sparkled due to the glitter. Though the crowd was less than impressed; Soos pressed on an electric keyboard that had said the word "Yeah!" every time he pressed on the keyboard.

"And now a word from our Mabelandelo!" Stan said, passing the microphone over to Mabel.

"It's Mabel." She said, taking the microphone from Stan before turning to the crowd, "Thank you for coming! I made this sculpture with my own two hands! It's covered in my own blood, sweat, tears… And other fluids!" The crowd couldn't help but groan in disgust.

Mabel on the other hand chuckled, "I'll be taking questions now." She pointed over to McGucket, "You there!"

"Old Man McGucket, local kook!" Mcgucket said, "Are the wax figures alive? And follow up question, can I survive the wax-man uprising?"

Dipper, Mira, Wendy, and Gary who sat at the stands had heard of McGuckets question, and couldn't help but think in unison, " _ **What kind of a question is that!?**_ "

Mabel too was a bit confused by McGucket's question, "Uhhhh… Yes! Next question!" She pointed to a man named-

"Toby Determined, Gravity Falls Gossiper." He said before asking, "Do you really think this constitutes a wonder of the world?"

Skyla noticed something off about the microphone Toby was holding, "Is that a turkey baster your holding?"

Toby looked at the turkey baster, "It most certainly is!"

"Alright next question." Stan said, pointing to a woman named-

"Shandra Jimenez, a _**real**_ reporter." She said, before holding a flyer, "Your flyers promised free pizza with admission to this event, is this true?"

The whole crowd started to get restless.

"Yeah, that's what I heard!"

"Bring out the pizza!"

"What a rip-off!"

"Pizza?"

"I want my pizza!"

Stan stood there just silently before saying to the crowd, "That was a typo. **GOODNIGHT EVERYBODY!** " Stan threw down a smoke bomb, and used it as cover to get out off of the stage. He reappeared at the stand moments later, taking the money and running inside the Shack, leaving the crowd angry and muttered angrily as they all walked away. Manly Dan punched the wooden pole on his way out.

" **IN YOUR FACE!** " Manly Dan exclaimed before walking away from the Mystery Shack. And before anyone knew it, everyone was gone. They had either, driven or walked away from the Mystery Shack.

Mabel said to everyone with a smile, "I think that went well!"

* * *

- _ **Later that Night**_ -

After everyone had left, Stan immediately went ahead to count all the money as well as Skyla they had gotten from everyone that had showed up at the Mystery Shack that day. Though it literally took them hours to do so.

"Hot pumpkin pie! Look at all this cash!" Stan said

"This a lot more money than we get on a daily basis." Skyla said after she had finished counting the money.

"And I owe it all to one person that made that possible…" Stan began to say. Mabel's expression couldn't help but brighten, though Stan in turn pointed to the wax version of himself. "This guy!" He said.

Mabel punched Stan's arm jokingly; Stan chuckled and started to give her a nogy, "Yeah, you too, ya little gremlin." He said with a smile.

Skyla said to the kids, "Alright, alright, it's starting to get late. So go own upstairs, wash up, and get to bed."

"Awww…" The kids couldn't help but groan.

"Can't we stay up a bit longer?" Gary asked giving her Bambi eyes.

"Don't give me that look." She said, "We've got another day of fleecing rubes tomorrow, so go on and wash up then straight to bed." The kids had decided not to make an argument about it, and did as Skyla told. They had gone up the stairs of the Shack and took turns washing up before going to bed.

Later on in the night Stan sat in the living room watching an episode of Duck-Tective; beside was the wax version of himself.

" _Well duck-tective, it seems you've really… Quaked the case."_ Constable had said on the television.

" _Don't patronize me._ " The Duck-Tective said back.

Stan laughed at this, "Stupid duck."

Stan stood up from his lounge chair, "Welp, I'm gonna use the john. You need anything?"

He was asking the wax figure, though of course the wax figure didn't reply.

Stan laughed again, "I like this guy! Don't you go nowhere." With that he left the room leaving only Wax Stan in the living room. Though a shadowy figure had suddenly towered over the wax figure, with a weapon in his hand.

* * *

Upstairs in the bathroom of the shack, the triplets were brushing there teeth. Dipper stood in front of the mirror, while Mira and Mabel sat on the rim of the bathtub; all of them were wearing their PJs, Mira having her braid undone, revealing long medium hair.

For a while the triplets stood there in silence, cleaning their teeth, to make sure they were pure white as snow.

"Hey, you guys wanna have a toothbrush race?" Mabel said to her siblings.

"Okay." They both said.

Before the race could even begin however, they suddenly heard Stan scream from downstairs.

" **NNNNNOOOOOO!** " They heard him shout. The triplets stopped what they were doing, and had almost immediately ran out of the bathroom. They weren't the only ones that had heard Stan screaming. Skyla, Andrew and Gary had heard him too, as they ran out of their rooms wearing their PJs, as they ran down the stairs with quick pace.

Skyla immediately ran to her Stan, "Dad, what is it, what's wrong!?"

"Wax Stan!" He said, while stammering, "He's-He's been- **MURDERED!** " They all turned to the Wax figure, and all couldn't help but gasp and eyes widened with horror when they saw that the wax version Stan's head was missing; on the floor lying on it's back.

Mabel fainted at the sight, though before she could land on the ground Dipper and Mira caught her.


	3. Chapter 3: Hunt for the Culprit

Immediately after they had found Wax Stan with its head missing, Stan had called the police, which was Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland. They looked over the what was left of the wax figure, and had started to take down notes when Stan explained what had happened.

"I got up to use the john, right?" Stan explained, "And when I come back blammo! He's headless!"

Mabel looked at her work on the wax figure, "My expert handcrafting… besmirched." She had cried out, " **BESMMMMIIIIRCHED**!"

Mira had immediately went to comfort her sister; she pulled her in for a hug, "It's okay Mabel… The police will figure out, I'm sure of it."

"Who could do something like this?" Dipper asked the two officers.

"What's your opinion Sheriff Blubs?" Deputy Durland asked.

Blubs had replied, "Look, we'd love to help you folks, but let's face it… This case is unsolvable."

Everyone's eyes widened in disbelief. " **WHAT!?** " They all exclaimed.

" **YOU TAKE THAT BACK SHERIFF BLUBS!** " Stan yelled.

"You can't just say that!" Skyla said with a bit of anger.

"You can't be serious right?" Mira said to the two officers, "There has to be motive to this, really there has to!"

Dipper said to the two officers, "You know, I could help you guys out if you want."

"Yeah!" Mabel said to the officers, "He's really good at the whole detective thing!"

Gary added, "Can't argue there, I mean he did figure out who was eating all of the tin cans."

"All signs, point to the goat!" Dipper said.

Stan said to the officers, "Yeah, yeah, let the boy help! He's got a little brain up in his head."

"Ooooh!" Blubs said, "Would you look at what we got here! City boy thinks he's gonna solve a mystery with his fancy computer phone!"

Durland had shouted, " **CIIITTTYYY BOOOYYY! CIIITTTYYY BOOOYYY!** "

"You are adorable!" Blubs said.

"Adorable?" Dipper said to Blubs with the quizzical look. Blubs and Durland had just laughed at Dipper's expression. Blubs said to them, "Look P.J's, how about you leave the investigating to the grown-ups, okay?"

They soon heard someone say over the police radio came on.

" _ **Attention all units. Steve is about to fit an entire cantaloupe in his mouth. Repeat, an entire cantaloupe!**_ "

"It's a 23-16!" Durland said.

"Let's move!" Blubs said to his deputy. Thus they both ran out of the Shack as they laughed, leaving everyone else just dumbstruck by what they had just witnessed. Andrew had broke the silence, "I have respect for those two, but they're really bad at their job."

"Probably because they're brains are the size of peas." Skyla said.

"There's gotta be something we can do to help find out who did this." Mira said.

"But we're not exactly officers." Gary said.

Dipper said to the whole group, "You know what, that's it! Mabel, Mira and Gary, you guys and me are gonna find the jerk that did this and get back the head. Then we'll see who's adorable."

Dipper suddenly let out a sneeze, and everyone couldn't help but let out an aw. "Aw…" Mabel said, "You sneeze like a kitten."

Dipper glared over in Mabel's direction.

* * *

- _ **The Next Morning**_ -

The triplets and Gary immediately went to work on searching the crime scene once more. Gary took pictures, Mira complied sketches, Mabel looked around the living while Dipper took down notes.

"Wax Stan's head is missing and it's up to us to find it." Dipper said to them as he wrote down the list of suspects, "There were a lot of unhappy customers yesterday at the Shack during the re-opening of the Wax Museum. The murderer could've been anybody."

"Even us!" Mabel said.

Mira stopped for a moment, "Wait, us, really?"

"I don't think that would be possible." Gary said.

"Ah but you forgot." Dipper said taking out the journal, "In this town, anything is possible." Dipper flipped through the pages of the journal, "Ghosts, zombies, it could be months before we find our first clue."

Just as Dipper said this, Mabel had exclaimed as she leaned over the lounge chair, "Hey look a clue!"

They went over to where Mabel was, and they saw footprints in the ground of the carpet; In one of the feet, there appeared to be a hole.

"Footprints in the carpet!" Gary exclaimed.

"Why are there holes in them?" Mira asked with a raised eyebrow.

Dipper followed them, "Don't know, but the footprints are leading straight to…"

The footprints lead behind the lounge chair. There, he found the murder weapon; which was an ax. The children gasped and looked at one another. They had brought the ax to the shop of the Mystery Shack, to show Soos.

Soos was currently examining the weapon.

"I can confirm, this is indeed an ax." Soos said.

The children thought to themselves. "Who do we know in this town that uses an ax?" Gary said rubbing his chin.

"Hmmm…" Mira thought, "Who do we know in this town that would carry around an ax on a daily basis in general?"

Mabel's eyes soon widened in realization when she thought of someone, "Wait a minute! Guys! The lumberjack!" The three kids gasped at this. "The lumberjack of course!" Dipper said, "He was furious when he didn't get that free pizza!"

"Furious enough for murder!" Mabel said raising her fist in the air.

"Oh you must mean Manly Dan." Soos said.

"Yeah, we do mean him. Do you know where Manly Dan is Soos?" Mira asked.

Soos replied, "Yeah, he hangs out at this crazy intense biker joint downtown."

"Oh! I know where that is!" Gary said, "I can take us there!"

"Than that's where we're going." Mabel said with a smile.

Soos seemed to get excited by what the kids were doing, "This is awesome! Gary do you realize what this means?"

"Yes!" Gary said, "I'm working with… _**The Mystery Triplets!**_ "

The triplets stood silently at that.

"Mystery Triplets?" Mira said.

"I like it!" Mabel said with a smile.

"Please don't call us that." Dipper said.

Thus the four children had proceeded out the door. They walked by Stan who was getting a coffin out from the trunk and Skyla was helping him out. Stan noticed the four kids, "Hey, give us a hand would ya? I'm doin' a memorial service for wax Stan. Something small but classy."

"Sorry Grunkle Stan." Dipper said, "But we have a big break in the case."

" **BIG CASE!** " Mabel yelled.

"Really?" Skyla said, "Where are you guys heading?"

"We're gonna head into town to interrogate the murderer." Mira replied.

"And I'll be leading them to him!" Gary said happily.

Skyla looked at Gary with unsure look, but saw the look in his eyes. She sighed and said, "Just, be sure to stay close to your cousins and do what they say." Skyla said to her son.

Gary nodded his head and said, "Don't worry mom! I will!"

Mabel said pulling out the ax and swinging it a bit, "In other news we also have an ax! **REE, REE, REE!** "

Stan said to the triplets, "This is the kind of thing that responsible parents wouldn't want you to do… Good thing I'm an uncle!" Stan stood on top of the coffin and shouted as he raised his fist in the air, " **AVENGE ME KIDS!** **AAAAAVVVVVEEEEENNNNGGGGEEEE MMMMEEEEE!** "

* * *

- _ **Later in Town**_ -

They had followed Gary downtown of Gravity Falls. It wasn't long until they found the place they were looking for. When they did find it, they saw that there was a bodyguard outside of the place.

They saw that the bodyguard had just turned down a miner. "I forgot this place has an age restriction." Gary said.

"Don't worry, we got it covered." Dipper said before turning to Mabel, "You got those fake IDs?"

"You bet I do!" Mabel said getting out four IDs. She handed three of them off to Dipper, Mira, and Gary. They all looked at their IDs.

"Are you sure that this will work?" Mira asked her sister.

"I am 100% sure." Mabel said with a smile.

"Well, here goes nothing." Dipper said, before leading the group towards the place.

"We're here to interrogate Manly Dan the lumberjack for the murder of Wax Stan." Mabel said to the body guard. The four children showed the muscle the IDs that Mabel made. Though the makeshift ID cards had stickers and google eyes on their eyes. The muscle eyed them, but-

"Can't argue with that." He said. Thus he let them go inside.

As soon as they stepped inside the place that was known as the Skull Fracture, they found a bunch of men fighting against one another. They walked in cautiously, at one point walking over a man that was on the floor.

"Is that man okay?" Mira asked

"He's resting." Mabel said with a smile.

Dipper turned to the group, "Okay guys, try to blend in."

"Right." Mira and Gary said in unison.

"You got it dipping sauce!" Mabel said.

Thus the four of them split up to find Manly Dan. Though it didn't take long for them to find him when they saw him at the arm wrestling machine.

"Manly Dan." Dipper said as he, along with Mira and Gary approached him, "Just the guy we wanted to see. Tell us, where were you last night?"

"Punching at the clock!" Manly Dan said.

"So you were at work?" Gary asked.

"No! I was punching at that clock!" Manly Dan replied, pointing at the clock outside across the street. They saw the time on the clock.

"10' o'clock." Mira said, "But… That was the time of the murder."

Dipper took out the ax from his backpack and showed it to Manly Dan, "I guess you've never seen _**this**_ before?"

"Listen little girl!" Manly Dan said.

"Actually I'm-"

"-I wouldn't pick my teeth with that ax. It's left handed! I only use my right hand, the **MANLY HAND!** " He ripped off the arm and started to beat the machine. "Get'em! Get'em!" A person named Tyler started to chant.

"Left handed?" Gary said before his eyes widened in realization, "Guys! The killer is left handed! We can narrow down the list of suspects with that!"

"Let's go!" Dipper said before noticing they were missing somebody, "Wait, has anyone seen Mabel?"

They saw Mabel sitting by the bar, with a biker, telling his fortune.

"3… 4… 5… 6!" Mabel said flipping the folded paper, "You're wife is gonna be beautiful."

"Yes!" The Biker said as he pumped his arm.

"Mabel!" Dipper said, "Good news, we just a break in the case!"

Dipper took Mabel by the arm and they left the Skull Fracture. "But will she love me!?" The Biker called out before they left. The four children were now walking down the block; Dipper had crossed the name Manly Dan off of the list of suspects.

"The weapon used on wax Stan, is a left handed ax." Dipper explained to the group, "The person we thought responsible, Manly Dan is right handed, so the killer we're looking for is left handed. All we have to do is find a person in this town who is left handed and we've got him!"

"We're so on fire today!" Gary cheered.

"That guy had better watch out, because we're coming for him!" Mabel said, "Pa-Zow!"

"Let's go find that murderer!" Mira said. Thus they all fist bumped in each other and went to search for the killer. They searched high and low for the killer of wax Stan, but so far half of the town was indeed right handed. They searched all day for the culprit, though it all seemed hopeless. They had searched through every suspect on the list that Dipper had made, but they still had no such luck. It seemed like they lost all hope of finding the culprit. That is until one name was left on the suspects list.

* * *

- _ **Later that Night**_ -

Officers Durland and Blubs stood outside of the Gravity Falls Gossiper, along with the triplets and Gary. Both Blubs and Durland were ready to bust into the place.

"You kids better be right about this, or you'll never hear the end of it." Blubs said to them.

"The evidence is irrefutable." Dipper said.

"It is _**so**_ irrefutable!" Mabel said, putting emphasis on the "so" part.

Durland said happily waving his police baton, "I gonna get to use my match stick!"

"You ready? You ready little fella?" Blubs said to his deputy. Both of them made "Woo" sounds while they poked each other with their police batons.

"Let's do this on 3." Gary said. Durland prepared himself to kick down the door.

Gary counted down, "1… 2… 3!"

Durland kicked down the door and both officers came rushing into the place. " **YAAAAHHHHH!** " Durland shouted.

" **NOBODY MOVE! THIS IS A RAID!** " Blubs yelled.

As it turned out, the owner of the Gravity Falls Gossiper was none other than, Toby Determined, who had fallen out of his seat at the sight of them suddenly entering. "What is this!?" He exclaimed, "Some kind of raid!?"

Durland smashed a lamp with his police baton and yelled out, " **DERP!** "

Mira said to Toby, "Toby Determined, your under arrest for the murder of the wax body of Grunkle Stan."

"You have the right to remain silent!" Dipper said to Toby.

"And remain impressed by our awesome detective work!" Mabel said. The triplets high fived each other, and soon, Gary joined in on the high five after the triplets high fived one another.

"Gobbling goose feathers!" Toby said, "I don't understand!"

"Than allow me to explain." Dipper said before he began to explain it to Toby, "You were hoping that Grunkle Stan's new attraction would be the story that saved your failing newspaper. But when the show was a flop, you decided to go out and make your own headline. But you were sloppy, and all the clues pointed to a shabby shoed reporter who was caught left handed."

"Dipper, no offense… But that pun was cheesey." Gary said.

"It was the only thing I could come up with!" Dipper whispered.

Mabel crumbled up a newspaper and said to Toby, "Toby Determined… You're yesterday's news."

Toby said to the kids, "Boy, you're little knees must be sore… _**From jumping to conclusions!**_ I had nothing to do with the murder."

"What!?" Mabel, Mira and Gary exclaimed.

"I knew it!" Dipper said before saying, "Wait, what? Nothing? You say nothing?"

"Do you mind repeating that?" Mabel asked.

"Wait, if you had nothing to do with it, than where exactly were you last night during the break-in?" Mira asked.

Toby seemed to look nervous when Mira asked this. "Ehhh…"

In the next second they were watching some security footage. Toby had taken from out of his closet a cardboard version of Shandra Jimenez. " _Finally we can be alone, cut out TV news reporter Shandra Jimenez!_ "

At this point everyone had their jaws wide open by what they saw him kissing the cardboard; everyone couldn't help but say "Eeeewwww". "I've seen a lot of weird things in my day… But this one takes the cake." Gary said.

"Time state confirms it." Blubs said, "Toby, you're off the hook. You freak of nature."

"Hooray!" Toby cheered.

"But this doesn't make any sense!" Mira said, "All of the evidence that we collected points to him!"

"Check the ax for fingerprints!" Dipper said to the cops. Blubs and Durland looked over the ax and dusted it for fingerprints.

" _ **No prints**_ at all." Blubs said to them, which surprised them.

"No prints?" Dipper said.

"But that's impossible." Gary said, "How can there be no prints?"

Durland laughed, "Hey, I got a headline for you: _**city kids waste everyone's time**_!" The cops started to laugh, while the triplets looked away embarrassed. Gary tried to comfort them but it was to no avail.

"Boy, I'd be pretty embarrassed if I was you two." Toby said, with the security footage still playing behind him.

* * *

 _ **-Later**_ -

Everyone had sat in a funeral parlor which Stan had made himself for his wax figure. The wax figure lay in the coffin, with it's head still missing. He stood on stage looking to the audience.

"Kids, Skyla, Soos, lifeless wax figure, thank you all for coming." Stan said, "Some people might say it's wrong for a man to love a wax replica version of himself."

Soos jumped from his seat, " **THEY'RE WRONG!** "

"Easy Soos." Stan said, he turned to the wax version of himself, "Wax Stan. I hope you're picking pockets in wax heaven."

Stan stopped when he felt tears come to his eyes. "I'm sorry, I got glitter in my eyes!" He said as he ran off the stage. He ran out of the room in tears; Soos ran after him. Skyla's eyes were written with concern, though the kids were unsure as to why.

She stood up, "I'm gonna go and try to calm him down." She said to them, "I'll be right back." With that Skyla left the room, leaving only the four kids in the funeral parlor.

Dipper sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"Dipper, what's wrong?" Mira asked.

He had replied, "Those cops were right about me. There's no way I could solve this."

"Come on Dipper, don't give up." Mabel said.

"Yeah, we can still solve this." Gary said.

Dipper stood up and went over to the coffin, "But I considered everything: The clues, the motive, the weapon, everything." He leaned against the coffin.

Mira patted him on the shoulder, "Don't worry Dipper, we'll find out whoever did this."

Mira looked in the coffin, but noticed something peculiar; The kids noticed this. "What is it?" Gary asked.

Mira looked at the bottom of the wax figure and so that there was a hole under its foot. "How come Wax Stan has a hole in his shoe?"

Mabel replied, "All the wax guys have them. It's where the pole thingy attaches to their stand dealy."

It was only than when Dipper had realized something. "Wait a minute…" He said, "What has a hole on its shoe and no fingerprints? You guys! The murders are-"

"Standing right behind you."


	4. Chapter 4: Case Cracked!

Mira looked in the coffin, but noticed something peculiar; The kids noticed this. "What is it?" Gary asked.

Mira looked at the bottom of the wax figure and so that there was a hole under its foot. "How come wax Stan has a hole in his shoe?"

Mabel replied, "All the wax guys have them. It's where the pole thingy attaches to their stand dealy."

It was only than when Dipper had realized something. "Wait a minute…" He said, "What has a hole on its shoe and no fingerprints? You guys! The murders are-"

"Standing right behind you."

The four of them turned around and were in for a shock. Standing before them was the wax figures themselves; all of them were suddenly alive. They all stood up from their seats and walked towards the children. The four of them gasped when they saw that the leader of the wax figures was holding the head of wax Stan.

"Wax Sherlock Holmes!" Dipper exclaimed.

"Wax Shakespeare!" Mabel yelled.

"Wax Coolio?" Mira and Gary said in unison.

"Sup, Holmes?" Wax Coolio said.

A wax figure by the name of Lizzie Borden took the ax from Mabel. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" Mabel said with panic.

The wax figure named Sherlock had said to the four children, "Bravo children, you've discovered the truth and our secret, applaud everyone."

All of the wax figures started to applaud.

"No, no, that's too sincere." Wax Sherlock said

The wax figures started to clap even slower than before.

"There we go." Wax Sherlock said, "Nice and condescending."

"Wait a minute, you're all alive!?" Gary exclaimed, "You're not just some creepy life like figures you'd see in a museum!?"

"But, you're made of wax!" Dipper said, "How can you move!?"

"Or even talk for that matter!?" Mira shouted.

Mabel asked them, "Are you guys… Magic?"

Wax Sherlock started to laugh at this, "Ha! Magic she says! She wants to know if we're magic!" All of the other wax figures started to laugh at what Mabel had asked. But as quick as the laughter came over the crowd, it had stopped abruptly when Wax Sherlock had shouted-

" **WRONG!** We are cursed!"

The other wax figures chanted the word cursed over and over, stopping at one point.

Wax Sherlock had started to explain it to them.

"Cursed to come to life whenever the moon is waxing. Your uncle bought us many years ago at a garage sale. He had no idea that we were cursed and brought us without a second thought. And so the Mystery Shack Wax Collection was born. By day we would be the playthings of man."

"But when your uncle and cousin went to sleep, we would rule da night." Coolio said.

Wax Sherlock continued.

"It was a charmed life for us cursed beings… That is until your uncle closed up shop. We've been waiting ten years to get our revenge on Stan for locking us away… _**But we got the wrong guy**_."

The four children gasped at the last part when they had realized what he meant by that.

"So… You were trying to murder Grunkle Stan for real!?" Dipper exclaimed.

"You monsters!" Mira couldn't help but shout to the wax figures.

"You were right Mira! Wax people are creepy!" Mabel said to her sister.

"Ditto to that." Gary added.

"Enough!" Wax Sherlock shouted getting the four children to stop talking, "Now that you know our secret… _**You must die.**_ " All of the wax figures eyes rolled to the back of their heads and they had approached the kids. The four backed up as they trembled and shook with fear.

"What do we do, what do we do?" Mabel said.

"I don't know!" Dipper exclaimed.

They hit the table that had snacks and such on the table. "Quick! Start throwing things!" Gary said. The four grabbed the first thing they felt and threw it towards the wax figures. Though they didn't seem to have an affect on them as they kept on walking towards them.

" **GET BACK!** " Mira said, grabbing a full coffee maker and spilled it on one of the figures which was of Genghis Khan; his arm melted as he let out a scream.

"That's it!" Mabel said, "We can melt them with hot melty things!"

The four of them grabbed electric candles and prepared to swing at them as they started to walk towards them and the wax figures began to back up. " **ANYONE MOVE AND WE'LL MELT YOU WITH CANDLES!** " Dipper yelled.

" **DECORATIVE CANDLES!** " Mabel shouted.

Wax Sherlock said to the children, "Do you really think you can defeat us?"

The four of them mumbled things like "Not really, worth a shot though."

"So be it." He said turning to his fellow wax figures, " **ATTACK!** " The figures closed in on the four kids, and attacked them. Wax Lizzie Borden swung at Mabel, wax Robin Hood attacked Mira, wax Genghis Khan went after Gary, and wax Larry King charged at Dipper.

Mira dodged Robin Hood's attacks with ease, and with just one swing she had decapitated him. Wax Queen Elizabeth was about to attack Mira from behind, when suddenly wax Lizzie Borden had accidentally cut off her head.

"Thanks." Mira said to her sister, as she stabbed Lizzie with the candle. Though she had shouted to her sister when she noticed that Shakespeare was behind her, " **MABEL BEHIND YOU!** " Mabel quickly turned around and chopped off his hands; though Shakespeare's hands had a mind of it's own and grabbed her neck. Mabel started to gag as she struggled to breath. She moved to the open door and started to slam on Shakespeare's hand repeatedly.

Dipper and Gary in the meantime was fighting against the other wax figures. " **INTERVIEW THIS LARRY KING!** " Dipper shouted as he decapitated his head.

" **MY NECK!** " Larry King exclaimed, " **MY BEAUTIFUL NECK!** "

Wax Groucho was about to attack Dipper from behind. " **JOKES ON YOU GROUCHO!** " Gary shouted slicing him in half.

"I've heard about cutting remarks but this is ridiculous!" Wax Groucho said as he started to slide off, "Hey why is there nothing in my hand?"

Wax Genghis Khan charged at Dipper and Gary; Dipper grabbed Gary's arm and moved so that he had hit the fireplace instead. He exploded with wax covering the walls, and floor. "Ha Genghis Khan!" Dipper said, "You feel harder than the… I don't know, uh, Qin Dynasty?" Both Dipper and Gary stood up and continued to fight against the wax figures.

Mabel had swung the head of wax Coolio and hit the other wax figures with his head. " **OW! WHAT'S UP WITH THAT ?!"** Coolio shouted as Mabel finally threw him across the room. " **DIPPER, BEHIND YOU!** " She shouted to her brother.

Wax Nixon tried to make a grab for him but Dipper had cut off both of his legs. But than-

" **GUYS! HELP!** "

Dipper turned and saw wax Sherlock had gotten ahold of Mira; his arm was around her neck. The Wax Stan's head was on the rhino's horn. " **OH NO! HE'S GOT MIRA!** " Gary exclaimed.

"What do we do!?" Mabel shouted.

"Hang on Mira! I'll save you!" Dipper shouted.

"Alright, let's get this taken care of." Wax Sherlock said, taking out a sword.

"Let go of my sister!" Dipper shouted.

"If you want her, you're going to have to fight me boy." Wax Sherlock said. He swung his sword at Dipper and he quickly ducked. Dipper tried to attack him with the candle but it was knocked out of his hand breaking it in two. Wax Sherlock had managed to trip Dipper and he landed on his back. He aimed his sword at Dipper.

Mabel grabbed a poker and heated it in the fireplace. " **CATCH!** " Mabel shouted to her brother throwing the poker. Dipper caught the poker and blocked wax Sherlock's sword with it. Thus they started to fence as they had gone out of the room. They had went up the stairs still fighting one another, eventually ending up on the attic floor. He ended up getting cornered by wax Sherlock.

"Once your family is out of the way, we'll rule the night once more!" Wax Sherlock said.

Dipper looked to the window that was on the attic floor and hatched an idea.

"Don't count on it!" Dipper yelled, lunging the poker so that it hit his foot. Wax Sherlock let out a shriek dropping Mira.

"Come on! Run!" Dipper yelled grabbing her arm. They both crawled out of the window and climbed up the sign.

" **GET BACK HERE YOU BRATS!** " Wax Sherlock shouted going after them. They managed to get to the top of the sign, with Mira standing behind Dipper; They both slowly backed up as Dipper's poker and wax Sherlock's sword clashed with one another. He tried to hit them both with his sword but ended up missing; the "S" on the sign fell off and landed on the ground. Dipper had accidentally dropped the poker, and they both climbed up the rooftop of the Shack.

" **YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN OUT WIT ME!?** " Wax Sherlock shouted as he went after them, " **I'M SHERLOCK BLEEDIN' HOLMES!** "

They managed to get there but was quick to learn that they would be cornered. "Dipper what do we do!?" Mira exclaimed with worry, "We'll be trapped!"

"Trust me Mira, I know what I'm doing!" Dipper reassured her. Mira soon let out a scream when wax Sherlock kicked him so that he landed on his back and his foot was on his chest.

" **DIPPER!** " Mira yelled, running to kick at wax Sherlock, despite the fact that she was short on a candle, " **LET GO OF MY BROTHER!** " She was hit away by wax Sherlock, ended up getting knocked out. With her out cold, wax Sherlock raised his sword high in the air.

"Any last words?" He said prepared to finish him.

"Umm…" Dipper said, "Got any sunscreen?"

"Got any-? _**WHAT?**_ "

It was only than wax Sherlock had realized that he was starting to melt. He turned around fast and saw that sun had started to raise. "No." Was all that wax Sherlock had said. Dipper sat up, "You know, letting me lead you outside? Probably not your sharpest decision."

"Outsmarted by a child?" Wax Sherlock said with disbelief, "In short pants no less!" He started to melt faster as the sun rose even higher.

" **FIDDLESTICKS! HUMBUG! BUTTER HULLABALOO!** " Wax Sherlock shouted.

"Case closed!" Dipper said as he wiped his hands together making dust fly up. That had caused him to sneeze. Wax Sherlock laughed, "Ha! Ha! Ha! You sneeze like a kitten! Those policemen were right you're adorable!" With that, wax Sherlock had turned into a puddle. Dipper groaned in disgust, but realized-

"Oh my gosh, Mira!" He exclaimed.

Dipper ran over to Mira who was still unconscious; a fresh bruise was seen on her forehead. Dipper lifted her in his arms and shook her awake. "Mira, Mira wake up!" Dipper said.

Mira let out a groan, and her eyes started to open, "Dipper?"

Dipper sighed with relief and hugged her, "Oh thank goodness you're okay! I was worried when he hit you! How do you feel?"

"I think I have a headache." Mira said as she rubbed her head when they broke out of the hug.

"To be fair, you did get hit with a back of the sword." Dipper said helping her up, "Come on, we'll get you some ice." Mira nodded and with effort they climbed down the roof and back inside. Mabel and Gary were throwing what remained of the wax figures. They were just finishing up and were down to wax Shakespeare.

"Though our group be left in twain, man of wax shall raise again." Wax Shakespeare said. Mabel picked up his head, "Know any limericks?"

"Uhhh…" Wax Shakespeare said trying to think of one, "There once was a dude from Kentucky…"

"Nope!" Mabel and Gary said in unison. Thus she tossed his head into the fire. They soon realized that Dipper and Mira were back in the room, though they noticed that Mira was holding on ice pack on her head. "Dipper! Mira!" Mabel exclaimed running to them, "You guys are okay!"

"What happened to your head?" Gary asked Mira.

"I was hit with the back of the sword." Mira replied, "But don't worry, I'm okay."

"You solved the mystery after all." Mabel said to Dipper with a smile. Dipper went ahead to get the head of wax Stan from the rhino had, after using a chair for support.

"Well, I couldn't have done it without my sidekicks." Dipper said to them.

"Yay!" Mira and Gary cheered.

Though Mabel on the other hand said, "No offense Dipper, but I always thought you were the sidekick."

Dipper stammered, "Wha-what? Who's saying that, are people saying that? Have you heard that?"

Mabel, Mira and Gary couldn't help but stifle a laughter. Stan and Sky had soon entered the room, but were both shocked to see what was in the room.

" **HOLY MOSES!** " Skyla exclaimed.

" **HOT BELGIAN WAFFLES!** " Stan yelled, " **WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PARLOR!?** "

"Before you ask mom, this wasn't me!" Gary said to Skyla, before mumbling to himself, "Mostly."

Mabel explained to them what happened, "Grunkle Stan, your wax figures turned out to be evil and we fought them to the death!"

"I decapitated Larry King." Dipper said.

"And I decapitated Robin Hood." Mira said.

Gary said, "And I cut Groucho in half."

Stan and Skyla looked at another before they started to laugh out loud. "Oh, you kids and your wacky imaginations!" Skyla said.

Dipper showed Stan the wax head, "On the bright side though, look what we found."

Dipper handed the head off to Stan, "My head!" He exclaimed, "I've missed this guy! You done good kids! Alright, line up for some affectionate noogie-ing."

Before any of the kids could protest, Stan had started to give them each a noogie. "Mira, what happened to your head?" Skyla asked finally noticing that Mira was holding an ice pack to her head.

"I tripped, but I'm okay now." Mira lied which earned a concerned look from Skyla.

They heard the sound of a car outside; they turned and saw that it was officer's Blubs and Durland. "Solved the case yet boy?" Blubs asked, "I'm so confident you're gonna say no, that I'm gonna take a long, slow sip from my cup of coffee."

Blubs did as he said, and started to take his long slow sip from his cup of coffee.

"Actually, the answer is yes." Dipper said. This had caused Blubs and Durland to spit take back and forth until finally they drove away; Everyone couldn't help but laugh.

"They got scalded!" Stan said through his laughter.

"Serves them right!" Skyla said.

"That reminds me." Dipper said to Mabel and Gary, "Did you guys get rid of all the wax figures?"

"Yup!" Gary said.

"We're 99% sure that we did!" Mabel said.

* * *

- _ **That Night**_ -

Everyone was sound asleep at the Shack after another long day of work and fighting evil wax figures. Everything was all quiet at the Shack, only the sounds of the animals outside were heard. In the attic, the kids were all asleep and in there own dreamland, that is except for Mira who was tossing and turning in her sleep and practically gasping for air.

Finally she sat upright and let out scream, after having another nightmare. She looked to her brother and sister, and then Gary; she sighed with relief when she saw that they were still asleep. She got out of her bed and tip-toed out of the room, then down the stairs to go to the bathroom.

She went to go wash her face; after the nightmare she had she felt that she needed it.

She took deep breaths and looked in the mirror, but her eyes by what she saw when she looked at herself; she saw that a certain something was missing from her forehead.

"The bruise… _**It's gone….**_ "

 _Next time on the Adventure of the Pines:_

 _ **The Key to Manliness**_


End file.
